Ok this is the problem i am having, when i hook up rcas to the amp and to the deck they get really hot and start melting, this has happend on a few different decks now, 3 to be specific. if i hook just the rcas up to the amp they do not get hot, the same if i just hook it up to the deck, the rcas are just cheap ones from walmart, do you think the quality of the rcas would have something to do with this? also when i do hook the rcas up, the subs just go crazy ponding really hard out of control, the amp isnt blowing any of the 3 fuses on it nor is it going into protect mode, i am really confused as i have hooked up at least 16 different systems and never had a problem like this. any help would be appreciated.
Thank You
Donald Lamaack
Replies (12)
swez on 11/6/2005 06:08:01
This is a classic symptom of poor amp and HU grounding. (severe ground loop problems) Your amp is not properly grounded to the car body. (need a bare metal ground to floor pan)
This causes the amp to look for a new reference point for its ground source. That would be the RCA's back to HU and/or antenna grounds. Neither of which are designed to carry this kind of current. Hense, the wires get hot and melt.
Also, what size power and ground wires are you using for this amp and what are the fuse ratings on this amp?
Swez
URGENT: Fix that issue immediately as this can cause a fire if the RCA's get hot enough to melt and start a carpet/padding fire.
DonaldTheGiver on 11/6/2005 06:13:52
the amp has 3 25 amp fuses, im using 4 guage power wire and 8 guage ground wire, the amp is currently grounded to bare metal, the cap is reading out at about 13.5 to 14 volts, rcas are of poor quality though, not sure if that has anything to do with it or not walmart car audio rcas. thanks for the replay i am awaiting for another one.
Donald Lamaack
swez on 11/6/2005 06:39:05
A #8 ground wire may not be large enough for an amp of this power rating. Looks like a 1000 watt + amp you have here. A #8 wire is fine for 50A draws or less. In this case, your amp may draw in excess of 80A with the Cap installed. (Pretty strong amp!) Check your #8 wire for heat as well. If it gets warm, too much current in that wire. Need a larger gage wire here.
Also, the RCA wires are designed to carry low signal voltage & current. (1.5-8.0 volts max, and well under 1A) If they are trying to carry more current due to improper grounding, they will melt. Even Monster cables cannot take this kind of current.
Is your HU grounded to the harness or a body ground? It should be grounded to the floor pan, firewall or other known good grounding site.
Swez
PS OK, wait for others to confirm this if you like. Just don't run the system under present conditions. You are playing with a fire hazzard.
DonaldTheGiver on 11/6/2005 06:43:08
ya its a 1600 watt amp, just spent some more money one some new stuff, 3 x 3000bd amps, 2 15" kicker l7s and 4 8" kicker l7s, i will try a thicker ground wire, the deck is grounded to the harness in the dash, perhaps i shall try to ground the HU somewhere besides the harness and see what happens.
Thank You
Donald Lamaack
swez on 11/6/2005 06:53:11
Egads... the new amps are huge! This will mean dropping to a much larger power and ground line gage. Got a link to the amps you just bought?
Also, this looks like you will need a major upgrade to the ALT/BAT and the "Big 3" wires as well. (ALT/BAT; BAT/GND & Engine block/GND)
Not sure how much total current these amps will draw until I get the specs on them. However, it looks like each amp could pull over 100A per amplifier. This is huge!
Say more,
Swez
DonaldTheGiver on 11/6/2005 07:40:08
im going to be running a total of 4 car batteries 3 in the car and one under the hood all red top optimas, if you look on www.poweracoustik.com you can see some of the specs on the amps, i got them ordered through a friends audio buisness. 2300 watts rms @ 1 ohm and they are stable in 1 ohm also strappable : ) if there is anything else ya wana know ask me i will say more.
Donald Lamaack
swez on 11/6/2005 11:51:51
FYI: The Red Tops are start batteries. Yellow Tops are very popular for car audio rigs as they can take deep discharge cycles (350 min) that start BAT's cannot.
Keep us posted on your progress. A few of our guys are SPL fanatics and can help you along or learn from your progress.
Swez
ttocs on 11/7/2005 09:44:23
just for future reference. If you have 4 awg in, you need 4 awg out. the smaller ground cable could be causing the problem.
Is this in that 87 shelby? What kind of speakers are you running? An 87 could very well have a common ground system. If you have wired into the factory wiring that could also be your problem.
DonaldTheGiver on 11/8/2005 03:14:11
actually im hooking up the stuff in my friends car, this is my old stuff from a previous vehicle. going to be installing the L7s in the shelby, now that i know about the grond wire problem i may be having i know to be extra cautious with my new car. i still havent had time to try a different ground wire, am hoping to have time later today.
Thank You
ttocs on 11/8/2005 10:43:14
what kind of car is it going in?
DonaldTheGiver on 11/9/2005 04:55:26
the stuff is being hooked up in a ford escort, not sure on the year, also refering back to my car, im going to be doing "the big 3" upgrade along with the extra battery installations. i still have not had time to try the bigger guage ground wire yet, but i am really thinking that could be the problem, but the thing is, i used to have that stuff hooked up the same way it is in his car now in a 1990 lincoln mark vii and had no problems, well up until the elecrical system started shorting out. then i sold the car lol.
Donald
swez on 11/9/2005 09:28:42
That same problem may well have been the demise of your Lincoln's electrical problems. When a large amp has to "search" for adequate grounding paths, it can take other things out as well.
Swez
PS I hope your friend with the Escort, knows he will need some major electrical upgrades to use that amp. No "stock electrical system" will manage that kind of power consumption w/o upgrades.
Thank You
Donald Lamaack
Replies (12)
swez on 11/6/2005 06:08:01
This is a classic symptom of poor amp and HU grounding. (severe ground loop problems) Your amp is not properly grounded to the car body. (need a bare metal ground to floor pan)
This causes the amp to look for a new reference point for its ground source. That would be the RCA's back to HU and/or antenna grounds. Neither of which are designed to carry this kind of current. Hense, the wires get hot and melt.
Also, what size power and ground wires are you using for this amp and what are the fuse ratings on this amp?
Swez
URGENT: Fix that issue immediately as this can cause a fire if the RCA's get hot enough to melt and start a carpet/padding fire.
DonaldTheGiver on 11/6/2005 06:13:52
the amp has 3 25 amp fuses, im using 4 guage power wire and 8 guage ground wire, the amp is currently grounded to bare metal, the cap is reading out at about 13.5 to 14 volts, rcas are of poor quality though, not sure if that has anything to do with it or not walmart car audio rcas. thanks for the replay i am awaiting for another one.
Donald Lamaack
swez on 11/6/2005 06:39:05
A #8 ground wire may not be large enough for an amp of this power rating. Looks like a 1000 watt + amp you have here. A #8 wire is fine for 50A draws or less. In this case, your amp may draw in excess of 80A with the Cap installed. (Pretty strong amp!) Check your #8 wire for heat as well. If it gets warm, too much current in that wire. Need a larger gage wire here.
Also, the RCA wires are designed to carry low signal voltage & current. (1.5-8.0 volts max, and well under 1A) If they are trying to carry more current due to improper grounding, they will melt. Even Monster cables cannot take this kind of current.
Is your HU grounded to the harness or a body ground? It should be grounded to the floor pan, firewall or other known good grounding site.
Swez
PS OK, wait for others to confirm this if you like. Just don't run the system under present conditions. You are playing with a fire hazzard.
DonaldTheGiver on 11/6/2005 06:43:08
ya its a 1600 watt amp, just spent some more money one some new stuff, 3 x 3000bd amps, 2 15" kicker l7s and 4 8" kicker l7s, i will try a thicker ground wire, the deck is grounded to the harness in the dash, perhaps i shall try to ground the HU somewhere besides the harness and see what happens.
Thank You
Donald Lamaack
swez on 11/6/2005 06:53:11
Egads... the new amps are huge! This will mean dropping to a much larger power and ground line gage. Got a link to the amps you just bought?
Also, this looks like you will need a major upgrade to the ALT/BAT and the "Big 3" wires as well. (ALT/BAT; BAT/GND & Engine block/GND)
Not sure how much total current these amps will draw until I get the specs on them. However, it looks like each amp could pull over 100A per amplifier. This is huge!
Say more,
Swez
DonaldTheGiver on 11/6/2005 07:40:08
im going to be running a total of 4 car batteries 3 in the car and one under the hood all red top optimas, if you look on www.poweracoustik.com you can see some of the specs on the amps, i got them ordered through a friends audio buisness. 2300 watts rms @ 1 ohm and they are stable in 1 ohm also strappable : ) if there is anything else ya wana know ask me i will say more.
Donald Lamaack
swez on 11/6/2005 11:51:51
FYI: The Red Tops are start batteries. Yellow Tops are very popular for car audio rigs as they can take deep discharge cycles (350 min) that start BAT's cannot.
Keep us posted on your progress. A few of our guys are SPL fanatics and can help you along or learn from your progress.
Swez
ttocs on 11/7/2005 09:44:23
just for future reference. If you have 4 awg in, you need 4 awg out. the smaller ground cable could be causing the problem.
Is this in that 87 shelby? What kind of speakers are you running? An 87 could very well have a common ground system. If you have wired into the factory wiring that could also be your problem.
DonaldTheGiver on 11/8/2005 03:14:11
actually im hooking up the stuff in my friends car, this is my old stuff from a previous vehicle. going to be installing the L7s in the shelby, now that i know about the grond wire problem i may be having i know to be extra cautious with my new car. i still havent had time to try a different ground wire, am hoping to have time later today.
Thank You
ttocs on 11/8/2005 10:43:14
what kind of car is it going in?
DonaldTheGiver on 11/9/2005 04:55:26
the stuff is being hooked up in a ford escort, not sure on the year, also refering back to my car, im going to be doing "the big 3" upgrade along with the extra battery installations. i still have not had time to try the bigger guage ground wire yet, but i am really thinking that could be the problem, but the thing is, i used to have that stuff hooked up the same way it is in his car now in a 1990 lincoln mark vii and had no problems, well up until the elecrical system started shorting out. then i sold the car lol.
Donald
swez on 11/9/2005 09:28:42
That same problem may well have been the demise of your Lincoln's electrical problems. When a large amp has to "search" for adequate grounding paths, it can take other things out as well.
Swez
PS I hope your friend with the Escort, knows he will need some major electrical upgrades to use that amp. No "stock electrical system" will manage that kind of power consumption w/o upgrades.
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